Unfinished Business
by TheDoctorAndSarah
Summary: The Doctor knows he wants to say goodbye to Sarah Jane before he regenerates. But has he cut it too close? Another take on what *should* have happened at the End of Time. AU 10/Sarah Jane *Now COMPLETE*
1. Chapter 1

**URGENT NOTE:** As you may know, the BBC starts shooting the 50th anniversary special this week. If you'd like to see a proper tribute to Sarah Jane in the special, please consider signing the petition at www dot ipetitions dot com / petition/sarah-jane-smith-dr-who-tribute (automatic link removed because we don't want to break any rules) and passing it on to any groups you belong to. If we all pass it on, we can make a difference! Time (ironically) is of the essence! Thanks!

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The Doctor knows he wants to say goodbye to Sarah Jane before he regenerates. But has he cut it too close? Another take on what *should* have happened at the End of Time. (AU) 10/Sarah Jane

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The Doctor returned Jack's silent salute and made his way back to the TARDIS. No time to talk. The pain was becoming unbearable, and he still had one more stop to make.

His fingers flew over the console as he set the coordinates. How many times had he planned to do this, then chickened out before the TARDIS materialized? Not this time. Just time for one last goodbye. Already his vision was blurry and his feet didn't seem to want to do what he told them to.

The TARDIS landed with a thud and he groaned, catching his breath before he opened the door. He had to keep it together for just one more minute. He couldn't go without saying goodbye to her.

Sarah Jane Smith heard the familiar sound of the TARDIS and ran upstairs to her attic office. As she reached the top of the steps she saw him. The Doctor was standing there, looking pale as a ghost and barely able to hold onto the door. "Doctor," she cried out as she ran to him. "What's wrong? You look awful."

"I'm ... it's ... can't... I ..." The speech center of his brain was barely holding on. He wanted to tell her so much, that he was sorry, that he missed her, that there'd never been anyone like her, and now he couldn't even say her name. Just one sentence escaped the fog. "I don't want to go."

Sarah didn't know what was happening to the Doctor, but she could tell he needed help, and right away. She slipped her arm under his and started guiding him back to the TARDIS. "Come on Doctor, let's get you into the Zero Room."

For a moment, he felt himself relax. Sarah would know what to do. She'd take care of him. He let her guide him as he rode out another wave of agony that burned through his body and suddenly realized what he was doing. She couldn't be here. Not now. "No, you have to ... go ..." he forced out. He wanted to push her away, but his limbs weren't complying.

"It's alright Doctor, I'll take care of you. You'll be fine in no time, just try to relax." They were almost to the Zero Room; she could see the door just a few feet ahead of them. "We're almost there, hang on for just a few more moments, please try." Sarah struggled as he started to get heavier. He could barely walk now.

He felt himself falling, falling, falling but never hitting bottom. He knew this feeling. The ... the Zero Room? That's good, he thought. The Zero Room could absorb the radiation he was about to expel. That would be all right. Nobody would ... no! Sarah was -

And then it happened. His consciousness exploded with energy; the radiation, his agony at leaving this life, his regeneration... Regeneration? Yes! That was the searing pain in every cell that tore through his soul.

Suddenly he was consumed with the thought that he had to protect Sarah. She had to live. She had to! The energy ... it had to go somewhere safe ...

But Sarah had been right next to him when it started. She was holding his hand when she suddenly felt as if lightning was shooting through her. Pain wracked her body and her blood felt as if it were boiling inside of her. She didn't know what was happening, all she knew was that it didn't matter. If she were going to die, at least she was with the Doctor. She tried to speak, to tell him how she felt about him, but she couldn't. So she just held onto him as tightly as she could. She looked into his wild eyes and stared at them, hoping he could tell how much he meant to her. She stayed this way until she started to pass out. 'Goodbye Doctor, I love you,' she thought. Then everything went black.

Finally, it subsided. It was over, the Doctor thought. He took a deep breath, then remembered. "Sarah!" She was floating next to him, just as he'd taught her all those years ago. But she wasn't breathing. He held onto her and felt her arms float, slack. "No, Sarah, no!" Hot tears ran down his face and onto her blouse as he held her close, as though he could force life back into her. He'd waited too long to come say goodbye, and now he'd killed her. How much radiation and energy had she absorbed? He cursed himself, holding her and rocking back and forth, trying to will it not to be true.

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End of Chapter 1

How much radiation **has **Sarah absorbed? Has the Doctor lost her for good?

Please review...


	2. Chapter 2

Sarah was motionless in his arms. For the longest time he just held her and cried, not noticing when she started breathing again. She lay in his arms, too weak to move or speak, but she could hear him crying over her. He sounded so far away. Did she die? She couldn't feel pain anymore. In fact, she couldn't feel anything at all. What was happening to her? She tried again to speak. She thought she managed to get some sort of sound out but she wasn't sure. She tried to open her eyes, but even that was a struggle.

Did he ... hear something? He held his breath for a moment, and stared at Sarah. She was ... breathing? "Sarah! Sarah, can you hear me?"

Sarah could hear him, but was still unable to speak. She decided to try and think hard, hoping he could somehow read her mind. 'Doctor,' she thought as hard as she could.

He was sure he'd heard her call his name. "Yes, Sarah, I hear you. It's all right." He tried to keep his voice even, reassuring, but he wasn't sure he succeeded. "Everything's going to be all right." He wasn't sure of anything.

'I'm too weak to talk or move,' she thought to him.

He realized she was thinking to him. "It's all right," he said. "Just ... just rest. It's all right." She was so weak. Was he still going to lose her? No, he wouldn't. He couldn't. He scooped her up in his arms and started toward the infirmary.

'Maybe if I just stay here in the Zero room, I'll absorb some of the TARDIS energy,' she thought trying to sound positive.

"I think you've absorbed quite enough energy already, thank you," he said, continuing down the hall. As he moved, he got stronger, and he picked up the pace until he arrived and placed her gently on the diagnostic bed.

'So you know what happened to me, then? What's wrong with me?' She tried not to sound too worried as she continued to try to blink, talk, to do just anything. 'Dear heavens, what if I end up like this for the rest of my life? What will happen to me? I thought it was bad enough when I was blinded on Karn. That was nothing compared to this. I can't even move or speak,' she thought as the seriousness of what had happened to her began to sink in.

"You're not ... you're not going to stay like this," he said.

'Sorry, I didn't mean for you to hear that last part. Don't mind me, you know what a baby I am about everything. I'm sure I'll be fine in no time at all,' she tried to sound as cheerful as possible. 'I'd still like to know what happened to me, though.'

"You've ..." How could he explain this to her? "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have come back until after I was finished regenerating. I cut it too close, and you ... you were basically hit by a nuclear blast."

'Am I going to be all right?'

He forced a smile, glad she couldn't read **his **thoughts. "Of course you will." He looked at the readouts. That wasn't right. "Hm." He adjusted a few settings. "It looks as though you're ... you're basically in some sort of stasis." He pulled over a chair. "I ... er ... I'd originally come here to tell you something. I suppose I should go ahead and do that."

'Of course, you never come to visit without a reason, so what is it?' she thought, remembering to guard her feelings this time.

'Ouch,' he thought. "I ... I wanted to tell you that ... I wanted to tell you that I've always loved you and I'm sorry that I was so thick."

Sarah Jane stiffened mentally. She knew he just told her she was going to fine, but he wouldn't say something like that unless he was really worried about her. 'Am I that badly off?' she thought with fear.

"Um ... no," he lied. "But that's what I came here to tell you, and I thought you might ... want to hear it."

'You don't sound too happy about it and you only apologize when something's gone terribly wrong,' she thought. 'So if it's not me, though I suspect it is, what's the matter?'

He thought about that. "I've munged up this life pretty well," he said. "Done things... things I shouldn't have." And this is the worst of it, he thought. "And I was trying, at the end, to ... to make it right before I started over again. Some great job I did, eh?" He sighed.

Sarah Jane knew him far too well. She could always pick up what was really going on, the things that he didn't want to say. 'Forget about me for a moment. Just what do mean by at the end, and before you started again?'

"That explosion of energy ... I've regenerated. I'm so sorry, I'd been hit with 500,000 rads of radiation, and when I expelled it you took the brunt of it."

'Is that what this is? Radiation poisoning?' she tried not to let him hear her fear. 'Tell me the truth, am I dying?'

He didn't answer for a few moments. How could he say it out loud? Instead he held her, held her as though he would never let her go.

Suddenly, her body grew taut, then began to move uncontrollably. She could feel again but now she wished more than anything she couldn't. The pain was beyond her endurance. She begged to die. Tears rolled down her cheeks and all she could hear was him crying out to her and gurgling sounds coming from her lips. Then she collapsed and her body went limp.

The Doctor stared at her limp body, breathing heavy. For long seconds she'd been enveloped in a golden aura that burned him like a thousand suns; he could only imagine what she'd felt, then, at the end. Again he took her in his arms and held her, too spent even to cry over her. Instead he just held her and rocked gently back and forth.

He held her that way for what seemed like an eternity. He closed his eyes and tried to block out the reality of losing her. He was a Time Lord, but time had no meaning for him at that moment. Time had become his enemy. After a while her body seem to grow heavier in his arms. It didn't make sense; his arms didn't **feel **tired from holding her. Was he losing his mind? He forced himself to open his eyes and stare at her. She was still limp, but there seemed to be a glow in her cheeks, and her face looked calm and serene. He placed his hand on her forehead. She didn't feel cold. Was that part of the radiation's effect on her? As he stared, her body moved slightly. Rigor mortis is setting in he thought. He knew he would have to make some sort of plans for her. He'd have to say goodbye for the last time. His throat felt like it was swelling shut at the thought. He closed his eyes again. He didn't want to face that final goodbye, not just yet.

Sarah Jane's eyes fluttered and then she opened them and saw the Doctor. He looked miserable. She tried to touch him but she still couldn't move. She tried harder and managed to move her fingers. Finally, she was able to wrap her hand around his arm. She gasped softly with the effort.

He gasped much more loudly with shock. He'd seen rigor mortis before, many times. But you never get over that shock, he thought.

She tried to talk, but the effort was still too much for her. Could she still reach out for him with her thoughts? She closed her eyes and willed him to look at her. 'Doctor,' her mind called out to him.

He heard her. He knew he heard her. Was she haunting him? He looked at her, still in his arms. "Yes," he said, holding her closer. "Stay with me."

She drew on every ounce of strength she had. She ignored the pain and forced herself to close her hand around his arm once more. She opened her eyes and sought his.

He saw her eyes open. "Sarah ...?"

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End of Chapter 2

Just what is happening to Sarah? If she does survive, how can a human body cope with being exposed to so much radiation?

Reviews joyfully accepted...


	3. Chapter 3

Sarah squeezed the Doctor's arm again and smiled weakly at him. The pain was starting to subside a bit now.

He felt a tremendous pressure on his psyche start to ease, but he wasn't sure why. "How ... how do you feel?"

"Awful," she managed to groan at him, still smiling.

He smiled back at her and set her back on the diagnostic bed, then touched a few controls. Was it possible he could still save her? Then he looked at the readouts. That wasn't right. He felt his brow furrow.

She was watching him closely now. She was starting to feel a bit better, but she didn't like that look of his at all. She grew frightened again in spite of the way she felt. "What's wrong?"

"Um ... not sure," he said, standing and stepping away from the table, then coming closer and sitting on it, then stepping away from it again. 'Impossible,' he thought. He dug in his pockets for his stethoscope and put it on the left side of her chest. He was rewarded with a good, strong rhythm. Then he took a deep breath, let it out, and held it over her right lower abdomen, hesitating.

"What are you listening for over there, my kidneys?" she laughed nervously.

He gently placed the stethoscope's diaphragm on her torso and heard it clearly. A second heartbeat.

He jumped back, as though he were burned, staring at her.

Sarah Jane looked alarmed. She felt well enough to sit up now and she wanted answers. "What is it? Just tell me what's wrong with me. I can take it, no matter how bad it is."

He took a moment to process this new information. "There's ... there's nothing wrong with you. In fact..." He found himself breaking out into a huge grin. "You're a miracle."

She grinned back at him. "I see now, you're amazed to see that I'm still alive after all that. Don't you know how difficult it is to kill a Smith off?" She shook off the last of the pain. "We come from sturdy stock, lot's of feisty old ladies on my side of the family. In fact, I'm feeling better by the minute," she said dangling her feet over the side of the examining table.

"I'm definitely amazed. You shouldn't just be dead, you should be vaporized." He looked at her longingly, like a teenage boy with a pinup poster.

She smiled at him, the little questioning smile that he had come to know and love over the years he'd spent with her. "Well I'm not vaporized or dead, I'm still here." She shrugged her shoulders at him. "So why aren't you frowning and giving me the usual lengthy explanation of what happened? Followed of course, by the lecture for not listening to you that comes with it?"

"Sarah Jane Smith, I'm so glad you're alive that I'm not even going to begin to scold you. But it's better than that, so I can give you the lengthy explanation, if you want it," he smiled.

Her eyes twinkled with joy at him. Few things pleased her as much as seeing him grin with happiness at her. "Fire away," she said, smiling dotingly at him.

"I'm thinking that when the blast hit, it was a combination of the radiation and any leftover regeneration energy, so as the radiation shredded your DNA, the regeneration energy must have built it back up, but as Gallifreyan. You, my darling, wonderful miracle, have two hearts." He smiled even wider. "If I had to regenerate, that was worth it." He realized he'd completely forgotten about his regeneration. "Speaking of which... Am I ginger?" He pulled on his hair, but it wasn't long enough for him to see its color.

She sat staring at him for a few moments, trying to take in what he was saying and make sense of it. Especially the part about him regenerating. He must have gotten one heck of a jolt to his head before he showed up at her house. "Ginger! You're joking, right?" she asked him incredulously.

"No, I always wanted to be ginger, did I make it? Or do you mean the part about the two hearts!" He took the stethoscope and held it out so she could put it in her own ears and hear for herself.

As she listened to the stethoscope, her mouth fell open. "Is that really me?" Her eyes met his with astonishment.

He nodded, still grinning.

Her hands flew up to her face. "Oh my, then I'm really like you? That is, well, am I really a ..." her words broke off as she let the idea of what she'd become sink in. She looked to him for reassurance.

He nodded again. "You're a Time Lord."

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End of Chapter 3

Is Sarah really a Time Lord? If she is, what does that mean for the two of them? And will the Doctor ever be ginger?

Well, we thought there was just one more chapter to come, but your reviews have given us some great ideas, so stay tuned... Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

She was totally shocked. "That's amazing," was all she could manage to say. She looked again at the face she adored smiling madly with joy at her. "Does this mean I'm not human anymore and I won't die in the next thirty or so years," she said slowly, as the thought of what this could mean washed over her.

He nodded vigorously, then impulsively grabbed her up in his arms and swung her around, "I'm not going to lose you!" He began to laugh like a madman.

She started to laugh too. The thought of being with him for centuries made her drunk with joy. "Me too," she said laughing. Then she threw her arms around him and buried her head in his shoulder.

He raised an eyebrow. "Me too?"

She bit her bottom lip and smiled at him, her eyes full of mischief. "Well, you did say you loved me, didn't you? Of course, you did think I was dying at the time, so I suppose it doesn't really count."

He loved that smile. Oh, how he loved it. "Don't think you're getting out of it that easily, it's taken me 157 years to tell you, who knows how long it'd take me to get up the courage to say it again."

Sarah gave him a look that was clearly a challenge. "How do I know I even heard it in the first place? I could have been delirious at the time and just imagined it," she said, glowing at him.

"Well, you kind of gave it away there, didn't you? You admitted that you heard me say it." Then he looked her straight in the eyes, "I love you."

She looked up at him, trying very hard not to tear up, but not succeeding very well. "I love you too."

He hugged her, then held her out at arms length. "But you never answered me. Ginger?"

She had to struggle not to laugh at him now. She made the most serious face she could manage. "Let's put it this way Doctor, how fond of your last regeneration were you? You know, the tall skinny one with the spiky hair and that wonderfully goofy smile?"

"I rather liked that one, actually. Very much. I really didn't want to give that one up," he said sadly, smile gone from his face.

She ran her hand softly across his cheek then took him by the hand. "Close your eyes and come with me, Doctor," she said as she led him over to the infirmary mirror. She made him stand with his back to it, then stood by his side and smiled lovingly at him. "You can open your eyes now." Then she slowly turned him around to face the mirror.

He opened his eyes, prepared for the worst. His old face looked back at him. "What --? WHAT --?" He shifted his arms. "Even the mole is still there." He considered the situation for a moment, then slapped his forehead. "Of course! You were a biorecepticle! My last thought was about keeping you safe, I must have unconsciously redirected the regeneration energy into you, so once I was healed, I didn't regenerate!" He laughed again. "A double bonus. I really didn't want to go," he told her.

"Good, because I really didn't want you to go either," she beamed at him. "Looks to me like we're both going to be around for a while."

"As it should be." He held out an elbow to her. "To the console room?"

"Lead on," she said, taking his arm.

They started to walk down the hall. Then Sarah Jane stopped so suddenly she almost caused him to trip. "Hey, I just thought of something," she exclaimed with excitement.

"What?" he asked, regaining his footing.

"Didn't you tell me once a long time ago, that when a Time Lord regenerated that if he or she were young and stable enough, he or she could control the way they looked?"

"I like the way you look," he said, seriously.

"I understand that, but if you don't mind this is my body, and I'd like to change it just a bit please. Can you teach me how to do that?"

He looked hard at her. There was no point in arguing. "I will, but seriously, I really love the way you look, please don't change."

She took both of his hands in hers. "Just trust me, please. I promise you won't be disappointed with the results."

He sighed, and put his hands on her face, joining minds with her and giving her the knowledge she wanted.

"Thank you," she whispered to him. "Now, promise me to keep your eyes closed until I ask you to open them."

He nodded and did as she asked, but only after taking one more long look at her face, memorizing every inch of it, knowing that he was seeing it for the last time.

Sarah Jane looked around to find the nearest room. It was the boot cupboard. 'Perfect,' she thought as she went inside. She stood in front of the mirror she knew was in it. Concentrating very hard, she closed her eyes and began to make the changes she wanted on her body. She tried for several minutes until she was satisfied that she had gotten it just right. Now all she needed was to change her clothes.

In a few moments, she ran back to the Doctor, who was still standing in the corridor with his eyes closed, waiting for her return.

"Alright then, you can open them now," she said, giggling nervously.

The Doctor opened his eyes hesitantly, then laughed and swung her around again. He needn't have worried. She looked just exactly as she had when she'd first traveled with him. In fact, even the dress she wore was one she'd worn then, to 15th century Italy, he thought. "I love you, Sarah Jane Smith. And I always will." Suddenly he had an idea. "Come with me," he said, grabbing her hand and taking off at a run, dragging her for the first few steps.

Sarah quickly caught her footing and had no trouble keeping up with him. She felt as if she could fly if he asked her to. She was young again, no age problems now, and she never had to leave him. How could life get better than this?

He threw open the doors to the garden and ran to her favorite spot, a small clearing among the roses and Metabelis angel flowers. Once there, he fumbled in his pockets, found what he was looking for, and sat her down on the stone bench where they'd spent so many hours all those years ago, when they were young and foolish. He took her hands and got down on one knee in front of her.

Sarah's eyes popped open as she saw what he was doing. Now she knew that she really did have two hearts, because she could feel both of them in her throat.

"Sarah Jane Smith, I never, ever in my wildest dreams thought I'd be able to ask you this, so I'm completely unprepared, but I hope you'll give me a chance to make that up to you later." He held out a small silver-looking ring. "Will you marry me?" He held his breath waiting for an answer.

Sarah Jane looked into his eyes and saw all the love that she had wanted to see in them for so long. "Yes, with both my hearts." She smiled at the thought of being able to say that. "I love you Doctor. I've always loved you. But then you've always known that, haven't you?"

"As much as you've known that I've always loved you, even if I was too ... well, that's over now. Now you're hearing it from me. I love you, Sarah Jane Smith!" he shouted.

She laughed and held her ring finger out to him.

With a flourish, he put the simple ring -- just a bio-damper he always carried in his pocket, really -- on her finger. "I know the greatest jeweler we can go to for a real engagement ring. She's on Orcitino VII, and you wouldn't **believe **the things she's put together. Brilliant, really."

"It looks more like a wedding band, but as long as I've got a ring from you on my finger, I'm content," she smiled. Sarah Jane's stomach growled and she laughed. "You know, suddenly I'm starving."

"I'll just bet, regeneration takes a lot out of you. Now you know why I was a bit dodgy when I became Teeth and Curls." He held out an elbow. "To the kitchen, my dear?"

"Yes," she said jumping up quickly and running as fast as she could. "Race you to the galley," her voice could be heard as it trailed off.

He just stared after her for a moment, then took off running. Whatever else happened, he thought, it certainly wasn't going to be dull.

By the time he got to the kitchen, Sarah was pulling everything she could find out of the fridge and munching on food. "Mmm, I don't have the foggiest as to what this could be, but it's simply lovely," she said, chomping on some sort of orange meat. "Ohhh, leg of something!" she exclaimed as she reached into the back of the now almost empty second shelf of the fridge. She took another bite of the orange meat and started grabbing at things on the bottom shelf. "Ouch," she jumped, as she pulled her hand out to examine what had hurt her. Something blue and green with tentacles was hanging onto her finger. "Laugh now," she said to one of it's ten eyes. "You're next."

The Doctor pulled a glove off the counter, slipped it on his hand and gently removed the creature from her finger. "No, he's not," he told her. Then he held it up to his face. "Norman, you behave yourself, or you're going back into the bait box." He dropped the creature back into it's bowl. "Have you considered the cupboards?"

She looked over at the cupboards and thought for a moment while she chewed. Then she shook her head a bit wildly at him. "Nope, don't look like they'd taste very good." She went back to emptying the contents out of the fridge. "Wow, Doctor, look! Brown and purple goop. Smells wonderful," she said as she licked her lips at it.

"Er ... yes, that would be time rotor lubricant. Don't you remember that time the console sprang a leak and you were covered with it? Now, this purple and brown goop over here, on the other hand..." He pulled out a second container. "This is bloody marvelous." He held it out to her.

Sarah didn't bother to ask why he kept the lubricant in the fridge. That should have been his first clue that something wasn't quite right. Instead she smelled the goop, stuck her finger in it and took a taste without fear. "Oh, fantastic," she sighed as she went and got a spoon and started it eating with pleasure. "Hand me that piece of pink stuff with the bone coming out it please." She pointed to it and continued to stuff her mouth full of the goop.

He handed her the plate, wondering if he should keep his hands at a safe distance. "You know, you ... er ... you probably want to slow down a little."

"Oh I will, as soon as I stop feeling hungry." Sarah tore into the pink meat and looked up at him. "What have you got to drink?"

For a moment he considered the perils of a Time Lord who was perpetually hungry. But Sarah's life force didn't seem to be draining from her, so he shoved that in the back of his head (rather forcefully, actually, with a big kick) and handed her a carafe of blue milk.

Sarah gulped it down and then kept eating for a few more minutes longer. Suddenly she jumped up from the table and grabbed the Doctor's hand. "Come on," she tugged at him. As soon as he stood up she smiled widely at him. "Let's run! I want to go to the zero room!"

"I'm not so sure the Zero Room is a good idea..."

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End of Chapter 4

What will Sarah Jane do next? What does the Doctor think about the changes in her? Did anyone remember to Norman back in the fridge?

Thanks so much for the reviews! Not only do they make us feel great, they've given us some great ideas...


	5. Chapter 5

It was too late, she was running towards the zero room at this point, and he could only let go of her hand or keep up with her. He opted to keep up with her.

When they got to the zero room, she dropped his hand and turned to him with a manic gleam in her eye. She started to fly around the room as if she were in a stage production of Peter Pan. She posed her arms as she dashed around the room, then took his hand again and pulled at him once more. "Let's dance," she said, laughing.

He pushed off the floor and danced with her, twirling and spinning and tumbling through the zero room's gravity-free environment, realizing what was going on and wondering whether he was as ... enthusiastic as she was when he got into one of his moods. "You know, Sarah," he said, "your form is what it is. No matter how much you eat, you're not going to gain weight. You're just going to get more energy."

"Oh, marvelous," she sighed. "Absolutely marvelous." She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Tell me, do you like my eyes," she asked him, batting her lashes. She had an expression on her face that told him that she would be utterly crushed if he said 'no'.

"I love your eyes," he smiled. But there was something manic about her that was well beyond having lots of energy.

Then it dawned on him. Regeneration instability.

"You know," she said as she fell back into his arms to be dipped. "I suddenly have this urge to pick a particular clothing style and stick to it. Let's go to the boot cupboard, shall we?"

He smiled. "I told you it was a regeneration thing." He sighed. He'd miss the morning surprise of finding out what she'd chosen for that day.

Sarah floated slowly to the floor and waited for him. "Come on then," she said over her shoulder to him, heading quickly out of the room. "You know I don't remember you being this much of a slowpoke in the past. Up until today, you've always acted like a squirrel on crack. What's gotten into you lately?"

He laughed in spite of himself. "Slowpoke indeed," he said. "Was I really this bad when I regenerated?"

Sarah stopped as she came to the door of the boot cupboard. He was a few feet behind her. "Oh, when you were you're fourth self you were quite impossible," she smiled as he caught up with her. "Can't imagine anyone acting stranger. Let's stand on our heads," she said.

He grabbed her around the waist as she started to bend over. "Not a good idea," he laughed. "Not in a dress..."

"Ooh right," she laughed. "You stay out here and you can help me pick out a new look." She opened the door and then disapeared behind it. A few moments later she popped out of the room waving her arms at him with a flourish. "Taa Daa! Well, what do you think? Is it me?" She was wearing purple and pink striped leggings, with pink sparkly chunky heels, a multi layered frilled purple skirt, and a matching tank top. Her hair was in two pony tails with pink and purple lace ribbons around them.

He suddenly knew how the Brigadier must have felt when he emerged from the TARDIS dressed as a playing card. "No."

Sarah pouted a moment and then just shrugged. "Be right back then." She ducked into the room again. Another few moments and she returned. This time she was wearing some kind of spotted animal skin and matching fur slippers. She had a patch of her long hair wrapped in a bone atop her head with anklets, bracelets and a necklace of long teeth on as well. "Better?" She looked hopefully at him.

He tried not to laugh. "Absolutely not, Pebbles."

"Aww, come on," her shoulders slumped and then she sulked back into the boot cupboard.

When she emerged a third time, she was wearing a pink satin blouse a black vest with a shawl collar and black wide legged slacks. She was wearing a pink tie with black polka dots and socks that matched the tie. She had on black ballet-style shoes with pink leather roses on them. "How's this?" She twirled around in front of him.

He couldn't stop smiling. "Perfect." He reached out and took her hands. "Don't change a thing."

She smiled at him as she played with the lapels of his jacket. "Who knows," she looked mischievously at him. "Maybe tomorrow I'll try a blue pin striped suit."

"Ha ha," he said. "Probably not. But you could do worse."

Sarah looked haughtily at him. "Well, after all, I'm a Time Lord now. I have a superior mind and body compared to my old one. That makes me bloody marvelous doesn't it?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. She'd always been the one to tease him about being pompous, and it was that not-quite-humble-but-not-insufferable air about her that he loved so much. The idea of her taking on the airs of those Time Ladies he'd shied away from for so many centuries... He frowned, worried. "Er ... what?"

Her eyes twinkled and she tried hard to hold back her laughter, but soon she had to let it out. She put a reassuring hand on his shoulder as she giggled. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist teasing you after all those years of you taking yourself so seriously." She chuckled heartily. "Oh, I wish you could have seen the look on your face."

He let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding. "I'm sure it was hilarious." He kissed her hand. "For the record, I already thought you were bloody marvelous."

"Thank you Doctor," she said as she ran a hand through his hair affectionately. "For the record, I've always known how bloody marvelous you are. Just had to make sure it didn't go to your head too much."

"Message received. And speaking of going, where do you want to go? I like your living room, but it's hardly a tourist destination."

"What would you say to trying for somewhere where there's no bug eyed monsters? Somewhere that has a warm and tranquil atmosphere, beautiful skies and friendly natives for a change?"

"I've been trying to find a place like that for 400 years," he laughed. "But let's give it another try. How about ... The cascades of Miran, circa 19,000? It was quite pleasant back then as I recall."

"Sounds lovely, lead on," she bowed to him.

"In that case, Allons-y!" And he headed off.

She followed him, watching the happy bounce in his steps. 'Mmm,' she thought to herself. 'He's way too dishy for his own good. What a great bum he's got. I wonder...'

The Doctor turned to face her, blushing. "Er ... pardon?"

"Pardon what," she asked him as she stopped her revery. "I didn't say anything."

"You ... er ... something about my bum?" He began to regret bringing it up.

'But," she was blushing now too. "I only thought that, I didn't say it out loud."

"Hm. You know, I just realized that I've been hearing your thoughts since the blast. I hadn't thought about it because of everything else going on, but ..." His eyes got wide as her latest thought echoed in his head. "Er ... we definitely need to do something about that," he said, trying to pretend he hadn't heard it.

Sarah Jane had been wondering what he would do if he knew she was aware of all those silly things he did to attract her attention. The ones that he did when he thought she wasn't noticing him enough. Then he'd make up an even sillier reason for doing it. Like the time he paged through a book and sniffed the pictures. He told her when she asked about it that he did it to see if he could detect what happened after the picture was taken. She had a feeling that she was the only companion who had ever caught on to him when he did that sort of thing. She jumped as she realized he knew it now. "Uhm, this is a predicament isn't it,' she said trying not to laugh at the shocked look on his face and not succeeding.

"Go ahead," he said, with mock hurt. "Laugh at my discomfort. Do you know how hard it was to attract your attention when you were surrounded by the wonders of the universe?" Before she could think anything else, he put a hand on each side of her face and showed her how to block her thoughts. "There. Try that," he laughed. "And for your information miss," he said trying to be stern. "All of my other companions took me quite seriously." He gave her a disapproving wag of his finger to prove his point.

She nodded at him and tried to look serious, but just ended up laughing harder.

Then he smiled sheepishly at her. "All right," he sighed. "None of my other companions ever caught on to me. You're the only one, so there." He stuck his tongue out and gave her the raspberries in an imitation of her. Then he gave her the biggest, goofiest grin she'd ever seen. "And that makes you special," he said, and kissed her nose.

* * *

End of Story

Thanks so much for sticking with us. We'll be posting again soon.

"So there." He stuck his tongue out in an imitation of her.


End file.
